The accident took place when a group of seven friends took a shortcut to enter a colony. They were crossing the railway line when a train arrived.

The incident occurred at around 9pm on Sunday near Saddiqpura locality, on the side of Delhi-Lucknow railway track.(HT Representative Photo)

Six people were killed and one was injured while crossing a railway track in Pilakhua town of Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur district on Sunday night, officials said on Monday.

Five men died on the spot and one succumbed to his injuries during treatment. The condition of another, who was taken to a hospital by the residents of Saddiqpura, is stated to be critical.

The incident occurred at around 9pm on Sunday near Saddiqpura locality, on the side of Delhi-Lucknow railway track, when the group of seven friends took a shortcut to enter the colony and were crossing the line when a train arrived.

They jumped to the adjacent track but another train ran over them.

The dead have been identified as Saleem, Ajay, Arif, Sameer, Akash and Rahul.

They had left their homes on Sunday morning to go to Hyderabad to work as cooks in at a wedding. But their train was cancelled and they returned from Ghaziabad to plan their trip next day.

Hapur district magistrate Krishna Karunesh, superintendent of police Hemant Kutiyal and other officers rushed to the spot.

The railways have constructed a flyover close to Saddiqpura but residents of the locality often take the shortcut by crossing the tracks to reach their homes.